Thai Curry Chopsuey

The more varieties you try, the more you fall in love with it. That’s how I like to define my culinary experiences with Thai cuisine.This recipe is a DSB twist to the traditional red Thai curry with the addition of chopsuey.

Thai food is usually interesting to the Indian taste buds as the spices and ingredients are similar to the Indian cuisine and usually Thai food tends to be spicy. Even though as vegetarians we have very few varieties to choose from, I still get to try something new every now and then.

For those who have been following my recipes, you would have seen my recipe box with some Thai recipes like Phat Thai, Thai Vermicelli and Thai Peanut sauce. I simply love the way the spices and coconut milk mingles and create a burst of aromatic flavors making the dish simply irresistible. I almost always prefer Thai food when in need of relaxation.

Chopsueyis defined as ‘assorted elements’ in a dish but in India it is usually defined as vegetables and noodles in sweet & sour sauce, garnished with fried noodles.

This recipe is an Indian Chopsuey twist to the Red Thai curry. As un-usual as it sounds, this recipe is really a must try !

Starting with the red curry paste,marinate the whole dried red chillies in 1/3 cup of hot water for about 1/2 hour and then remove from water and mix with other red curry paste ingredients.

Grind all the ingredients into a smooth paste.

Now in a pan, take oil and bring to medium hot. Add the curry paste and cook till the oil starts to separate (will take about 7-8 minutes on simmer). Remove from heat and keep aside. The paste can be refrigerated for about a month.

For Red Thai Curry

Marinate the tofu cubes in 1 tsp soya sauce, lime juice and and sugar for about 10 minutes.

Now, take a pan and add 2 tsp oil to it. To this, add the red curry paste, mushrooms and ginger and fry for about 2 minutes.

Now, add in the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water and bring to boil (the consistency should be soupy). To this, add all the vegetables (potatoes, brinjal, baby corn, carrots and peppers) and cook till the vegetables are tender.

Parboil the ramen in enough water till tender (You may add 1 tsp of salt to this so that the noodles are not completely bland upon boiling). Drain and run under cold water. Now, add 1 tsp oil and mix well so that the ramen noodles do not stick together.

Divide in 2 parts. Keep one part aside for serving with the red Thai curry.

Take 1 part of ramen noodles. Add in the cornstarch and mix well till evenly coated on the noodles.

Now, take a pan and heat oil. Fry the noodles (in small batches) till light golden brown and crispy. Drain and remove extra oil using an absorbent paper. Keep aside.

For Serving, take a bowl or deep dish. Add a ladle full of boiled noodles. Now, pour a generous helping of red thai curry over the noodles and sprinkle handful of fried noodles and chopped peanuts. Serve piping hot.

This combination is so good that you see plateful of servings finishing in minutes. The fried noodles adds crunchy texture to the slurpy, comforting dish. It is a great recipe for supper- it has the soup, the noodles and the crunch… what can be better !